Monday, January 24, 2005
"We're Tougher Than the Players..."
"We're tougher than the players. We come out here and smile and do it in less clothing and we love it."
That's a quote from three-year veteran Eagles Cheerleader Monica Devlin.
It's a debatable point. The Eagles stuffed the Falcons on Sunday and are headed to the Super Bowl. Meanwhile Monica and the rest of the Eagles Cheerleaders performed at halftime with bare midriffs in 3° wind chill.
The Bucks County Courier-Times has more on the Eagles tough-talking Pro Bowl Cheerleader.
Sometimes, it's not easy being green.
Like when the thermometer hovers at the freezing mark, while you're outside posing for photos smiling in a sleeveless half-shirt.
Like when the spring semester of senior year starts five days before the big NFC Championship Game.
Like when the family sees you more often on TV than at the dinner table during football season.
Not that Philadelphia Eagles cheerleader Monica Devlin can imagine herself any other color.
"I love the city. The fans here are insane," the Bristol Township resident said. "I love, during playoffs, walking around Monday and it's a sea of green."
Devlin, 22, is one of three Eagles cheerleaders with Bucks County ties. The others are Janet Harding, a Yardley resident and last year's Eagles' Pro Bowl cheer representative, and Jennifer David of Bensalem.
This is the third season Devlin has cheered her hometown team into the NFC Championship playoffs "then suffered the heartache afterward," as she put it.
She grew up in a family of huge
E-A-G-L-E-S fans.
As a kid, she watched quarterback Randall Cunningham score while she was dressed in a team jersey with Cunningham's No. 12 on it. Every Sunday during football season, the family throws a huge party at an aunt's house where everything is covered in Eagles green, including the dog.
The spring semester of her freshman year at Temple University, Devlin saw an ad for an open audition for Philadelphia Eagles Cheerleaders. At Harry S. Truman High School she was a dancer and choreographer, not a cheerleader.
She showed up at the audition - along with about 500 other hopefuls vying for one of 38 spots.
"I didn't tell anyone I was auditioning because I knew there would be an overwhelming amount of people trying out," she said.
She made the first-day cuts. Then the second round. Survived the third round. When she made the finals, a month later, she started telling people what she was doing.
At first, her father, Jim, told her to forget it.
"I was worried about her being out in the cold weather," Jim Devlin said.
But once Monica convinced Dad she could tough it out, Jim couldn't be prouder.
"It's a feather in the cap," he said. "It brings a certain set of extra pride."
Cheering is a part-time job for the English education major with plans to teach in high school. At every game, the squad performs a pre-game dance routine and a dance between game breaks. Every touchdown, the squad sprints to the end zone for the "Fly Eagles Fly" routine. She also greets fans and helps sell Eagles cheerleader calendars.
"It's definitely a lot of time."
There are perks, of course.
Like watching games from the sidelines, so close she has to watch for stray balls or charging players, Devlin said. "I have a much better appreciation of the game of football."
Devlin declined to say what cheerleaders earn, but called it part-time wages. She also gets two tickets for each game.
This year, she gets to represent her team at the Pro Bowl - the all-star NFL game played after the Super Bowl. The squad picked her to spend a week in warm Honolulu.
First, though, she had to pose for her official Pro Bowl photo, wearing flower leis and a summer shirt - outside the Linc before last Sunday's playoff game.
How does it feel to see her face on a Jumbotron screen the size of a 2 1/2-story building?
"It's really, really cool."
Which brings us to the worst part of being an Eagles cheerleader - the frigid winter weather. But even it isn't that bad, Devlin said.
"We're tougher than the players. We come out here and smile and do it in less clothing and we love it," she said. "The truth is, as long as we're winning, you don't feel the cold."
